The Melbourne Renegades edged out the Adelaide Strikers at Marvel Stadium on Tuesday night to kickstart their BBL|11 campaign.
Batting first, the ‘Gades made 9/153 from their 20-over allotment courtesy of youngster Mackenzie Harvey’s 56 from 46 balls.
He was supported with the bat by fellow opener Sam Harper who nailed 33 (28 balls) to set a decent target for the Strikers, who were best served by skipper Peter Siddle taking 3/42 from four overs.
The visitors had themselves in a fairly strong early position as they set about chasing down 154 with Matt Short and Harry Nielsen making 29 and 30 at one and three respectively. They were cruising at 3/84 in the 11th over.
Opener Jake Weatherald was just getting going when Jake Fraser-McGurk put forward his nomination for catch of the summer contender with an absolute peach on the boundary.
“That's extraordinary! One-handed catch from Fraser-McGurk,” said Big Bash Nation and SEN's Sam Hargreaves.
“Deep mid-wicket boundary, that was elite!”
Check it out below:
Wow JFM. Wow. 🤯#GETONRED pic.twitter.com/gQIYgR4Ti7
— Melbourne Renegades (@RenegadesBBL) December 7, 2021
Thereafter, the Renagades put the clamps on with new recruit Zahir Khan containing the Strikers to finish with figures of 3/24 from four overs and claiming Man of the Match honours as a result.
Kane Richardson and James Pattinson bowled superbly at the death with the former conceding just six runs in the final over as the Strikers fell two runs short of their target.
The Renegades will pocket their points and move on to their second fixture of the season against the Strikers at the Adelaide Oval on Thursday night.